When sorting and delivering quantities of mail in post offices and mail centers, it is conventional practice to first organize and separate out the mail by address, utilizing mail cases and mail rack systems. The mail is sorted by hand into compartments of the casing structure formed by dividers and shelves or trays. Once all the mail is placed into the shelf or tray, the mail has traditionally been removed by handfuls and placed into transport trays, sometimes being bundled or banded prior to such placement.
The act of removing the mail from the case or rack by hand after the initial placement is time consuming and there has long been a need to eliminate what amounts to a redundant step in the mail casing process. As will be seen in greater detail below, the invention disclosed and claimed herein eliminates the need to bundle or hand remove the sorted mail for placement into another tray for transport, because once the placement is complete the mail can be transported and delivered in sequence in the tray into which it was placed during the sorting process.
The following United States Patents are believed to be representative of the current state of the prior art in this field: U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,700, issued Jan. 29, 2002, U.S. Pat. No. 4,484,685, issued Nov. 27, 1984, U.S. Pat. No. 1,030,317, issued Jun. 25, 1912, U.S. Pat. No. 721,950, issued Mar. 3, 1903, U.S. Pat. No. 1,035,869, issued Aug. 20, 1912, U.S. Pat. No. 1,135,038, issued Apr. 13, 1915, U.S. Pat. No. 1,199,524, issued Sep. 26, 1916, U.S. Pat. No. 1,217,973, issued Mar. 6, 1917, U.S. Pat. No. 1,255,940, issued Feb. 12, 1918, U.S. Pat. No. 1,593,326, issued Jul. 20, 1926, U.S. Pat. No. 1,698,946, issued Jan. 15, 1929, U.S. Pat. No. 2,331,175, issued Oct. 5, 1943, U.S. Pat. No. 2,570,636, issued Oct. 9, 1951, U.S. Pat. No. 2,742,161, issued Apr. 17, 1956, U.S. Pat. No. 2,884,139, issued Apr. 28, 1959, U.S. Pat. No. 3,554,429, issued Jan. 12, 1971, U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,875, issued Mar. 10, 1981, U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,279, issued Mar. 22, 1988 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,182, issued Sep. 22, 1998.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,700 discloses a device for sorting documents incorporating a drawer which can be slid either under mail sorting dividers for placement of mail in the drawer or out from underneath the dividers once the mail has been placed in position therein. As the drawer is pulled outwardly, the mail is turned to one side and falls flat onto the bottom of the drawer facing in one direction. Once the drawer has been pulled clear of the dividers and the mail disposed flat on the drawer bottom, the mail is scooped by hand from the drawer (which remains attached to the casing or housing) and placed into another tray or sack for delivery or other processing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,484,685 discloses a mail sorting rack designed specifically for sorting letter size mail. The mail sorting rack incorporates a tray and mail has to be removed from the tray bottom by hand and bundled and placed into other trays or carrying devices for delivery on the street.
There is no teaching or suggestion in the prior art of the unique system disclosed and claimed herein which utilizes a portable mail tray in the sorting process which is completely removed from the housing or casing employed in the sorting process once sorting has taken place and employed to deliver the mail.